Data prioritization and distribution limitation system and method

ABSTRACT

A method of communicating between a handheld computer and other local area computing devices having wireless communication capability includes providing a handheld computer and identifying a plurality of other local area computing devices having wireless communication capability. The method further includes creating an identifier for one or more of the plurality of other local area computing devices and listing each identifier on a display. The list is sorted in order of at least one of distance and direction from the handheld computer.

BACKGROUND

[0001] Handheld computing devices such as personal digital assistants orhandheld computers generally provide some combination of personalinformation management, database functions, word processing andspreadsheets, as well as communications network connectivity, internetconnectivity, voice memo recording, and telephony functions. Further,handheld computing devices may include local area wireless technologypermitting communication with other computing devices within a localarea.

[0002] Handheld computing devices that include local area wirelesscapabilities may communicate with other computing devices usingprotocols or standards such as but not limited to Bluetooth wirelesstechnology, IEEE 802.11 architecture, or other relevant technologies orstandards. Local area wireless communications are typically betweendevices located proximate one another, such as within twenty meters. Thecommunication signals sent between the computing devices are typicallyradio frequency (RF) signals but may also include infrared or ultrasonicsignals.

[0003] While handheld computing devices that include local area wirelesscommunication capability may communicate with each other, they may alsocommunicate with computing devices connected to land lines, such as awired local area network access point, or other hardwired computingdevices. Further, the wireless handheld computing devices may shareinformation with other types of wireless electronic devices such ascellular phones or laptop computers.

[0004] Local area wireless communication capability permits computingdevices to communicate and share information such as files with oneanother without the use of a wired or cellular network. Sharinginformation may involve one or both of transmitting and receivinginformation. A local area wireless connection may be used to interfacewith a wired computer network or to browse the internet utilizing anearby computing device that is connected to the internet. Further,documents, business cards, computer files, and even voice communicationsmay be communicated between multiple computing devices that are linkedtogether in a wireless local area network. Further still, local wirelessconnectivity permits the synchronization of various computing devicessuch as handheld computers, cellular phones, and laptops without the useof wired connections or more complicated wireless computing protocolssuch as those used by cellular phones.

[0005] In order for handheld computing devices to communicate with oneanother and other computing devices via local area wirelesstechnologies, the various devices and their users of ten desire to beable to accept or decline messages that are received, and preferablytarget outgoing messages to particular receiving devices, rather thanindiscriminately broadcasting communications to all proximate wirelesscomputing devices.

[0006] One way for computing devices to more selectively communicatewith one another is for the user to select the device or devices towhich a communication should be made prior to sending the communication.The device may then send the communication such that it is received onlyby the chosen computing devices rather than all computing devices withinrange of the transmitted signal. The number of computing devices withinrange of a computing device with a wireless transmitter may be largegiven the rapidly increasing use of local area wireless technologies andthe long range of RF signals as compared to the infrared signals used byearlier devices.

[0007] Permitting the user to choose the local computing devices withwhich information should be shared presents difficulties if the numberof possible receiving devices is large. A typical method of presentingthe possible choices to the user would be to list the devices on adisplay associated with the user's handheld computer. The user may thenscroll through the list or use a stylus to tap on the desired devices towhich the user wishes to transmit information. However, as the number ofpossible devices grow large, the action required by the user becomesmore cumbersome, as it may be necessary to scroll through a long list oflocal area devices, and choose one or more of them. Further, it may notbe immediately apparent to the user which nearby computing devicecorresponds to the indicator shown on the user's computer device, makingthe selection more difficult.

[0008] Therefore, there is a need for a handheld computing device withlocal area wireless technology that permits the user to more easilychoose other computing devices in the local area with which the userwishes to communicate. Further, there is a need for a more logicalapproach to selecting a group of one or more devices to which a wirelesscommunication should be sent without individually selecting each devicefrom a list.

[0009] The teachings herein extend to those embodiments that fall withinthe scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplishone or more of the above-mentioned needs.

SUMMARY

[0010] An exemplary embodiment relates to a method of communicatingbetween a handheld computer and other local area computing deviceshaving wireless communication capability. The method includes providinga handheld computer, identifying a number of other local area computingdevices having wireless communication capability, creating an identifierfor one or more of the plurality of other local area computing devices,and listing each identifier on a display, wherein the list is sorted inorder of at least one of the distance and direction from the handheldcomputer.

[0011] Another exemplary embodiment relates to a method of sharinginformation between a handheld computer and a group of local areacomputing devices having wireless communication capability. The methodincludes specifying a distance, identifying one or more local areacomputing devices having wireless communication capability within thespecified distance from the handheld computer, and transmitting awireless message to the one or more local area computing devices havingwireless communication capability within the specified distance.

[0012] A further exemplary embodiment relates to a local area wirelesscommunication device. The local area wireless communication deviceincludes a housing, a processor supported by the housing, a memorycoupled to the processor, a transmitter supported by the housing, and adisplay. The processor instructs the display to list a plurality ofother computing devices located within range of the transmitter, sortedin order of at least one of the distance and the direction from thewireless communication device.

[0013] A still further exemplary embodiment relates to a user interfacefor a handheld computer. The user interface includes a display providinga list of indicators corresponding to a plurality of local areacomputing devices with which communication is possible. The list issorted by at least one of distance and direction from the handheldcomputer.

[0014] Alternative exemplary embodiments relate to other features andcombination of features as may be generally recited in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The invention will become more fully understood from thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to likeelements in which:

[0016]FIG. 1 is an exemplary front elevation view of a handheldcomputer;

[0017]FIG. 2 is a top view of a handheld computer;

[0018]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a handheld computer and expansioncard;

[0019]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a local area containing variouscomputing devices;

[0020]FIG. 5 is a front view of a handheld computer displaying a list oflocal area computing devices;

[0021]FIG. 6 is a front view of a handheld computer displaying a list oflocal area computing devices sorted by distance; and

[0022]FIG. 7 is a front view of a handheld computer displaying a list ofcomputing devices sorted in order of direction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0023] Referring to FIG. 1, a portable electronic device, shown as, butnot limited to, handheld computer 100 is depicted according to anexemplary embodiment. Handheld computer 100 may include Palm stylecomputers manufactured by Palm, Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif. Otherexemplary embodiments may include Windows CE handheld computers, orother handheld computers and personal digital assistants, as well asmobile telephones, and other mobile computing devices.

[0024] Preferably, handheld computer 100 includes memory, a processor,and interactive hardware and software that performs functions such asmaintaining calendars, phone lists, task lists, notepads, calculatorapplications, spreadsheets, games, and other applications capable ofrunning on a computing device. Further, handheld computer 100 may beconfigured for such functions as voice memo recording and play back, aswell as communications network connectivity, internet connectivity andwireless telephony.

[0025] Handheld computer 100, depicted in FIG. 1, includes a pluralityof input function keys 112 and a display 114 having graphical userinterface features. Display 114 may be provided with a touch screeninterface that allows a user to select and alter displayed content usinga pointer, such as, but not limited to, a stylus 116 (see FIG. 2), a pentip, a finger tip, or other pointing devices.

[0026] Handheld computer 100 may also include local area wirelesstechnology to permit wireless communication with other portableelectronic devices and computing devices that have compatiblecommunication technology. The local area wireless technology may beBluetooth or IEEE 802.11 compatible, or may support yet another wirelesscommunication protocol.

[0027] To support local area wireless communications, handheld computer100 may include wireless connectivity software integrated into theoperating system or stored in memory of handheld computer 100 or furtheradded via an expansion card or transferred from another computer orcomputer system. Further, to effectuate local area communications,handheld computer 100 may include an RF transceiver 124, or otherelectromagnetic reception and transmission device. RF transceiver 124may be provided on handheld computer 100 as part of an expansion card ormay alternatively be integrated into handheld computer 100. Referring toFIG. 2, handheld computer 100 may transmit and receive local areawireless communications via infrared port 120. Expansion card 124,including an RF transceiver, may be installed in handheld computer 100via an expansion slot 122 used to house expansion cards such as, but notlimited to, secure digital (SD) cards. Referring to FIG. 3, one suchexpansion card 124 is shown disposed proximate expansion card slot 122.An installed expansion card 124 that may be used for local area wirelesscommunications is depicted in FIG. 1. RF transceiver 124 may be aBluetooth transceiver, an IEEE 802.11 transceiver, or any of a varietyof other RF, VHF, UHF, ultrasonic, or other wireless transceiverdevices.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 4, handheld computer 100 may be capable ofcommunicating with other computing devices within local area 126. In theexemplary situation of FIG. 4, handheld computer 100 may be able tocommunicate with various other local area computing devices such as, butnot limited to computing devices having wireless communicationcapability such as soda machine 200, first handheld computer (Paula'sHandheld) 202, second handheld computer (Steve's Handheld) 204, laptopcomputer (Diane's Laptop) 206, cellular phone (Chuck's Cellular Phone)208, local area network (LAN) port 210, and automated teller machine(ATM) 212.

[0029] Referring to FIG. 5, handheld computer 100 may assign each of theother computing devices 200 through 212 a name to facilitateidentification of possible communication devices by the user of handheldcomputer 100. The name or indicator associated with the other local areawireless devices 200-212 is descriptive in an exemplary embodimentrather than corresponding to a numerical computer address for the otherdevices. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the device indicatorsinclude the name of the user of certain devices to facilitateidentification. The list of other local area wireless devices may beplaced on display 114 of handheld computer 100 for possible selection bythe user. As shown on FIG. 5, the list may be sorted alphabetically bydevice indicator. In other embodiments, the list may be randomly setforth. If the user of handheld computer 100 wishes to communicate withsoda machine 200, user may be required to scroll through a list of alllocal area computing devices, such as 200-212 to find and select sodamachine 200.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 6, in an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, handheld computer 100 displays a list of local area wirelesscomputing devices presented in order of distance from handheld computer100. Because it is likely that the user of handheld computer 100 wishesto communicate with a device located proximate handheld computer 100,listing available devices in order of distance from handheld computer100 will present the most likely desired choice by user at or near thetop of the list, creating a more efficient selection process. Forexample, soda machine 200 is most proximate to handheld computer 100 andtherefore is listed at the top of display 114, facilitating selection byuser as compared to the list shown in FIG. 5. The more efficientordering of selection possibilities is especially important with respectto devices such as handheld computer 100 because the limited space ondisplay 114 may require scrolling through several pages of possiblechoices with less efficient ordering methodologies.

[0031] Handheld computer 100 may determine the distance to other localarea computing devices 200 through 212 in a number of ways. In anexemplary embodiment, handheld computer 100 sends an electronic locatorsignal to other local devices and calculates the locations of the otherdevices utilizing the response time from the other devices. Such“electronic pinging” may be continuously done by handheld computer 100without interaction from the user, and may elicit automatic responsesfrom other local area computing devices 200 through 212.

[0032] The listing of devices with which the user may wish tocommunicate may be presented on display 114 of handheld computer 100 ormay be presented utilizing other methodologies, such as an audiblecommunication.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 7, in another embodiment, handheld computer 100may present a directional listing of local area computing devices 200through 212. For example, if handheld computer 100 is pointed directlyat Steve's handheld 204, the list of communications choices presented byhandheld computer 100 to the user may begin with Steve's handheld 204and Diane's laptop 206 before listing the closer devices soda machine200 and Paula's handheld 202 because the list is keyed to direction fromhandheld computer 100 rather than solely based on proximity.

[0034] A directional listing of local area wireless computing devicesmay be more useful than other list orders because it is likely that theuser of handheld computer 100 will be pointing handheld computer 100 atthe device with which the user wishes to share information. Thedirectional information used for sorting the list of proximate devicesmay be acquired by handheld computer 100 through the electronic pingingof other local area computing devices 200 through 212.

[0035] Handheld computer 100 may utilize both distance and directionsimultaneously to sort indicators of other computing devices 200 through212. For example, a number of computing devices may be located at asimilar distance, and accordingly handheld computer 100 may sort thelist based first on distance from handheld computer 100, but secondlybased on the direction from handheld computer 100 if necessary.

[0036] The user of handheld computer 100 may wish to choose a subset ofdevices with which to communicate out of the larger set of all localarea wireless devices. One way of making such a selection would be toscroll through the list of all local area devices set forth on display114 and choose each member of the subset of devices individually. Ratherthan performing such an individual selection process, in an exemplaryembodiment, a distance metric may be used to select the subset ofdevices.

[0037] For example, user of handheld computer 100 may wish to send amessage to all local area wireless devices within a particular radius ofhandheld computer 100, denoted by sub area 128 on FIG. 4. If user ofhandheld computer 100 wishes to share information with all local areawireless devices within sub area 128, a distance metric equal to theradius of sub area 128 maybe chosen such that communications will beeffectuated between handheld computer 100 and wireless devices 200, 202,204, 206, and 208 but not to and from wireless devices 210 and 212 whichare outside sub area 128. In an exemplary embodiment, the user may bepermitted to choose any distance metric for communicating with a desiredsub-group of wireless devices within a particular radius of handheldcomputer 100.

[0038] The software used to permit the various display ordering andgroupings of local area computing devices 200 through 212 may be part ofan operating system, such as Palm OS, or may be a program loadedseparately onto handheld computer 100. The software may be developed inany number of conventional programming languages. In other embodiments,the instructions may be carried out by hard wired circuitry or by acombination of circuitry and software.

[0039] The user interface and display methodologies described hereinaddress the various needs of the conventional art by permittingefficient communication between local area wireless devices. Bypermitting a user of handheld computer 100 to list proximate devicescategorized by distance or direction, or by permitting the grouping ofdevices by a distance metric, the user of handheld computer 100 may moreefficiently communicate with other computing devices.

[0040] While the detailed drawings, specific examples, and particularformulations given describe exemplary embodiments, they serve thepurpose of illustration only. The hardware and user interfaceconfigurations shown and described may differ depending on the chosenperformance characteristics and physical characteristics of thecomputing devices. The systems shown and described are not limited tothe precise details and conditions disclosed. Furthermore, othersubstitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in thedesign, operating conditions, and arrangement of the exemplaryembodiments without departing from the scope of the invention asexpressed in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of communicating between a handheldcomputer and other local area computing devices having wirelesscommunication capability, comprising the steps of: providing a handheldcomputer; identifying a plurality of other local area computing deviceshaving wireless communication capability; creating an identifier for oneor more of the plurality of other local area computing devices; andlisting each identifier on a display, wherein the list is sorted inorder of at least one of distance and direction from the handheldcomputer.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the hand held computer isconfigured to communicate with the plurality of other local areacomputing devices utilizing a Bluetooth standard.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the hand held computer is configured to communicate with theplurality of other local area computing devices utilizing an IEEE 802.11standard.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the hand held computer isconfigured to communicate with the plurality of other local wirelessdevices utilizing RF signals.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thehandheld computer is configured to communicate with the plurality ofother local wireless devices utilizing infrared signals.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the information necessary to sort the list by atleast one of distance and direction is provided by electronic pingingbetween the handheld computer and the plurality of other local areacomputing devices.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the stepof choosing one or more of the listed identifiers and sharinginformation with the local area computing device corresponding to thechosen identifier.
 8. A method of sharing information between a handheldcomputer and a group of local area computing devices having wirelesscommunication capability, comprising the steps of: specifying adistance; identifying one or more local area computing devices havingwireless communication capability within the specified distance from thehandheld computer; and transmitting a wireless message to the one ormore local area computing devices having wireless communicationcapability within the specified distance.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the display is a touch screen display.
 10. The method of claim8, wherein the wireless message is transmitted utilizing a Bluetoothstandard.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the wireless message istransmitted utilizing an IEEE 802.11 standard.
 12. The method of claim8, wherein the wireless message is transmitted utilizing RF signals. 13.The method of claim 8, wherein the wireless message is transmittedutilizing infrared signals.
 14. The method of claim 8, wherein theinformation necessary to transmit the wireless message only within thespecified distance is provided by electronic pinging between thehandheld computer and the one or more local area computing devices. 15.The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of receiving awireless message from the one or more local area computing deviceshaving wireless communication capability within the specified distance.16. A local area wireless communication device, comprising: a housing; aprocessor supported by the housing; a memory coupled to the processor; atransmitter supported by the housing; and a display; wherein theprocessor instructs the display to list a plurality of other computingdevices located within range of the transmitter, sorted in order of atleast one of the distance and the direction from the wirelesscommunication device.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the display isa touch screen display.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the localarea wireless communication device is configured to communicate with theplurality of other local area computing devices utilizing a Bluetoothstandard.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the local area wirelesscommunication device is configured to communicate with the plurality ofother local area computing devices utilizing an IEEE 802.11 standard.20. The method of claim 16, wherein the local area wirelesscommunication device is configured to communicate with the plurality ofother local wireless devices utilizing RF signals.
 21. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the local area wireless communication device isconfigured to communicate with the plurality of other local wirelessdevices utilizing infrared signals.
 22. The method of claim 16, whereinthe information necessary to sort the list by at least one of distanceand direction is provided by electronic pinging between the local areawireless communication device and the plurality of other local areacomputing devices.
 23. The method of claim 16, wherein the wirelesscommunication device is a handheld computer.
 24. A user interface for ahandheld computer, comprising: a display providing a list of indicatorscorresponding to a plurality of local area computing devices with whichcommunication is possible; wherein the list is sorted by at least one ofdistance and direction from the handheld computer.
 25. The method ofclaim 24, wherein the display is a touch screen.
 26. The method of claim24, wherein the handheld computer is configured to communicate with theplurality of local area computing devices utilizing a Bluetoothstandard.
 27. The method of claim 24, wherein the handheld computer isconfigured to communicate with the plurality of local area computingdevices utilizing an IEEE 802.11 standard.
 28. The method of claim 24,wherein the handheld computer is configured to communicate with theplurality of local wireless devices utilizing RF signals.
 29. The methodof claim 24, wherein the handheld computer is configured to communicatewith the plurality of local wireless devices utilizing infrared signals.30. The method of claim 24, wherein the information necessary to sortthe list by distance is provided by electronic pinging between thehandheld computer and the plurality of local area computing devices. 31.The method of claim 24, wherein the information necessary to sort thelist by at least one of distance and direction is provided by electronicpinging between the handheld computer and the plurality of other localarea computing devices.
 32. The method of claim 24, further comprisingthe step of choosing one or more of the listed identifiers and sharinginformation with the local area computing device corresponding to thechosen identifier.